


Moments In Time.

by KaraKeresu



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Character Development, Feels, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Grooming, Heavy Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Light Angst, Male Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Multi, Past Relationship(s), Self-Harm, Soulmate headcannons, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaraKeresu/pseuds/KaraKeresu
Summary: A collection of prompts centered mostly around my two Wol's and adventurers that join them. It ranges from A Realm Reborn to Shadowbringers. Tags are updated with each new chapter.
Kudos: 2





	1. Sandwiches: Lakshai

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! First of all thank you for giving this a chance, I haven't written or posted anything in about 5 years...So bare with me on this! I hope all of you enjoy this! Chapters will be labeled with title and what original character is mainly featured in it. Some original characters featured are borrowed, notes for that chapter will mention it.

She was exhausted, physically and mentally exhausted, which she hadn’t felt since her years in the Dragonsong war. The world of the first could do that to someone, the despair from the people, lost hope for a better life, the horrors of seeing those afflicted by the light, and eventually turn from it still haunted her. She knew it was getting to R’atoh but he would deny and continue marching forward. She was right with him but even she knew relaxing, when one could, helped greatly. That's what she intended to do as she parted from R’atoh’s side, him going to his room begrudgingly after being told to do so by Alisaie and the other scions. He would have refused, she figured, if she hadn’t looked dead on her feet, and being the brother he is, of course, he’d agree if only to ensure she was going to rest. 

Shutting the door behind her with a soft grunt at the amount of power she had to put into it, curse her short stature. She looked around the room eyeing it warily, she heard from R’atoh that he had been visited quite often by the ghost of the warrior of darkness, one of them at least. The warrior if she recalled, Albert? Ardbert? She shook her head, truly she didn’t care for the dead man, only for the fact he was bothering R’atoh but as long as she couldn’t see him and he couldn’t bother her, she would live even with her worries. When she noticed no one was in her room, after looking around for a minute, she began to strip out of her armor. Her hands deftly removed her brightlinen himation of aiming armor without thinking, allowing her mind to wander once again, and she found herself thinking of Emet-Selch. 

He had shown himself a rather interesting specimen, in her eyes. An ascian willing to cooperate with them? Watch them? See if they were worth what exactly? Even though it was thrilling to her, to ask questions of an ascian that she figured would be willing to share was something she couldn’t pass up. She never had the chance with Elidibus, Minfillia kept her away from him as did R’atoh once Minfillia alerted him to Elidibus’s visits. This time, even if it would be going against R’atoh’s wishes, she would not lose her chance to learn more about their enemy and their history. She couldn’t help but be voracious of any and every piece of information she could get her hands on that had to do with the ascians. 

The last piece of her armor fell with a clang, the metal pieces on her armlets hitting the solid ground. Sighing, she felt immense relief from the pressure of her armor, off of her body. Now in her smallclothes, she paraded around the room looking for her sleepwear. She left Thancred’s bandanna on for a bit longer, she had become accustomed to using it after her eye injury, regardless of the amount of hate it received and questioning look from the owner of it as well. Finding her tank top and booty shorts along with her carbuncle slippers, she placed them on the bed before heading to the bathtub that sat behind a folding screen for privacy. She was going to relax as much as she could before resuming the fight tomorrow morning, even if it killed her. 

Turning on the hot water, watching it fill the tub slowly, she grabbed the oils she found in a box on the ledge. She opened one and sniffed, cringing when she smelled the heavy scent of lavender; lavender was too strong for her nose and tastes. She filtered through many of the other vials until she settled on one. She poured the red liquid into the water, watching it swirl around in the water and begin bubbling up. The scent of Pixieberries assaulted her nose, making her lavender ears twitch in happiness while her tail thumped softly at her side. She sat on the tiny chair to the side of the tub and began unraveling her lavender and sky blue locks out of the braids and ponytail. 

Once she had her hair untangled and down her back, she then pulled it into a loose bun, allowing the free strands to fall to the side of her face, framing her cheeks. Finally, she slipped off the bandanna and set it to the side away from the water. She figured she should give it back to the man that owned it, but in a way, it was her safety blanket for what it was used to cover. She stepped out of her smallclothes and threw them over the screen, quickly dipping into the hot tub. Sighing contently, she melted into the warm and fragrant water. Blowing at the bubbles that she scooped into her hands, she grinned at the childish act before scooping more to pool around her breasts. Leaning back, she let her eyelids fall over her lilac and sky blue eyes before fully relaxing into a blissful state of daydreaming. 

She didn’t know how long she was soaking when she heard a knock at her door and a voice call out, “My rooms fucking haunted and I’m gettin real tired of this shit. Just lettin ya know I’m going to bed early, don’t stay up late thinking. You need to rest.” R’atoh’s voice filtered into her sensitive ears. She chuckled at his haunting experience then sighing at the worry she could hear clearly in his tone at the end. She lifted a leg out of the water and waved it around sending clouds of bubbles all over the tub and floor.

“Yes Atoh, I won’t stay up late. I’m exhausted and no, I’m fine. Really, I just need some rest and I’ll be good to go in the morning.” She sunk deeper into the water, the bubbles forming in front of her mouth and she blew them away, just for them to form again. 

The heavy sigh and a thud against the wood spoke volumes to her. She sunk lower ears pinning back because she knew she had done it again. Made him worry, worry about her health, worry about what was happening. All she ever did was make him worry, she set her leg back down into the lukewarm water. Lifting herself up, the water splashed along the sides while she pulled both her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Her tail wrapped around her midsection, limp from the emotions threatening to strangle her. 

“Alright, I’ll leave it alone for tonight. You need the rest and no amount of arguing will help any.” The sound of his body moving from the door was as clear as bells. 

“I love you Lak.” R’atoh said quietly, awaiting her response before he left. 

“I love you too Atoh.” She replied back equally as quiet, but she knew he could hear it. The sound of footsteps echoed until it slowly dissipated. 

She waited until all sound stopped from outside her room to stretch out. She let herself go again, she thought, she grabbed a lock of her hair and pulled harshly, making her wince before letting it go. She quickly cleaned off her body with overly fragrant soap then released her hair so she could wash it with the same fragrant set. She groaned as she stepped out of the water, shivering at the release of heat from her body and the hit of cold from the air around her. Rubbing her arms to stop goosebumps, she grabbed one of the towels on the towel stand and wrapped it around her body. She grabbed another and covered her hair, making sure to scrunch it under the towel and not rub to ensure it wouldn’t frizz up and dry out harshly. 

Stepping away from the screen as she dried off, she looked towards the kitchen, wondering if she should eat something before bed. There she saw a basket of sandwiches, all made with, what she saw, fresh ingredients, and cut adorably into triangles just like she loved them. She felt drool start seeping out of her gaping mouth. Embarrassed, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, grimacing at the wet drool on it. She then wiped it off on her towel and quickly made her way over to the sandwiches. She pulled out the dining chair and sat down, now that she was closer to them she could make out the actual ingredients, some of them were a bit odd to her. 

She noted that there were three different kinds of sandwiches made, two of each placed neatly in the basket. Though there was only one with actual meat on it. This one in particular had been made exactly as she preferred. It had very little mustard, just enough to taste it but not enough to overwhelm the flavor of the mayonnaise that coated all the slices of wheat bread that it was spread on. The pieces of robe lettuce, roasted dodo, bacon, onion, and tomato were all spread out and layered on the bread thoughtfully to ensure that with each bite, the person eating it would get all the flavors of the ingredients. Whoever made it knew exactly how she liked it; cut into triangles like her mama would always do, what she liked on her sandwiches, and even down to how she layered all of the ingredients on it in a particular manner that often got funny looks and comments from people that saw her make her own when she was allowed to of course. She gnawed on her bottom lip as she looked over the next two types of sandwiches in the cute basket. 

These were the weird ones to her, however innocent they looked. Both were made with the same wheat bread, one was a popoto salad with robe lettuce, while the other was a plain tomato and robe lettuce sandwich. They seemed normal, if it wasn’t for the fact that there was pixieberry jam on both of them. It unnerved her slightly. She had never thought to put jam on a sandwich like these, but she wasn’t one to not try something for the first time. Suspicion gnawed at her, she had her thoughts on who made the sandwiches since the only person allowed in her room was the master of the pendants or the Exarch himself, excluding R’atoh. The Exarch himself had mentioned he had her room booked for her specifically, so it was only right to assume he may have made the sandwiches himself. 

The Exarch confused her when she thought about it. She understood his wanting for her to be as comfortable as she could since she was fighting for his, her friend’s and family’s lives. Another mystery was his scent, it was so strong to her nose. It smelt like memories, a love lost but not forgotten, a sea of aether washing over musty books. Pieces of the scent, she remembered as someone else’s but the aether muddled the rest of the scent, making it hard for her to pinpoint if she knew the Exarch or not. Just as she was beginning to come up with an idea of exactly who was beneath the hood, her stomach growled and tightened in hunger. One of her hands went to her stomach, holding it as if that would appease it so she could think more but as it only got worse. The growling became louder as the scent of the sandwiches hit her nose, now that she was practically leaning over them hungrily. 

Finally giving into her stomach, she grabbed one of the dodo sandwiches and began eating it as slow as she could, so she could savor the flavors. They hit her tongue strongly and the seasoning on the dodo was one she had never tasted before. It was incredible! She tore through the sandwich within seconds, forgoing her initial thoughts on going slow in favor of devouring the sandwich basket completely in a matter of minutes. She licked her fingers neatly, she didn't think she’d enjoy the pixieberry jam on the other two sandwiches as much as she did. She even liked it more than her usual sandwiches! Sitting back in the chair, a satisfied sigh slipping from her lips. She rubbed her now full stomach, a grin stretching across her pale face until a realization hit her. 

Her face flushed when she remembered she was naked beneath the thin towel that was slipping from her vigorous eating. She berated herself silently and quickly left the table to dress herself in her fresh smallclothes and sleepwear. Even though no one was in her room and could possibly see her naked as the day she was born, it did not make her feel any better about being unclothed and unarmed. She sat down on the edge of her borrowed bed and unwound the towel from her hair gently. Her hair was still slightly damp, but the towel had ensured most of the water had been soaked up. She checked her ears and found them slightly wetter than her hair. She sighed irritably. but re-ran the towel over them to gather the rest of the water that clung to them. 

If she went to bed with wet fur, it would be a nightmares of tangles in the morning that she did not want her brother to have to help comb out. With that thought in mind, she finished her ears and started work on her long tail. Her tail fur was long, so it knotted easily if not attended to well. It was a hassle every morning, every night, and after battles but she dealt with it. A yawn forced its way past her unpainted lips. Her exhaustion was finally hitting her, which quickened her pace but she was still careful with her tail. It took her a few more minutes before she finally got done drying the fur on her tail. 

She gathered the towels in her arms and with a quick decision, she threw them over to the folding screen in front of the tub. Hearing them make a wet thud sound once they hit the floor, she shrugged at where they landed and turned back to the bed; at least her aim wasn’t too terrible when she was tired. Turning out the lights in the room, she slipped under the covers, snuggling into their softness but frowning at the coldness of them. She missed the warmth of sharing a bed with another person, the events in Ishgard being the last time she felt someone’s warmth next to her. She curled into a ball on her side, pulling the covers up over her face, and forced herself to sleep. She tried to ignore her wandering thoughts and the wintery bite of loneliness that she felt much harsher nowadays.

* * *

Red eyes glowed in the dim ocular room, a staff held tightly in a cold, hard crystal hand. Within the eyes was a deep sorrow, one that held such anguish that one could tell there was more to his relationship with the warrior of darkness than he let on. His unspoken hand gripped his hood tightly over his face, biting his lip as he willed tears away just as he did moments ago with his reddened face. The pain, he could clearly see in the warrior’s eyes and body language, tugged at his heartstrings. He should have felt ashamed, he had been watching her since she entered her room right after he dropped the sandwiches off. Of course, he made sure to turn away when she undressed for her bath. He wasn’t that uncouth, he would never feast his eyes upon her body which was left for someone far better then he to behold, even as his heart and soul told him otherwise. He waved his staff, watching the image of the one he loved most, fade away just as he forced his own feelings to do; no matter the pain.


	2. Bargain: R'atoh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If only he could bargain it all away, for just one simple thing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! This one features R'atoh! He's a seeker kitty, an during ARR he was the main WoL! In this particular chapter there is a lot of other adventurers mentioned some of which are my sisters. Ladonia, Ipeone, Leih'to, and Mizuki are all my sisters Oc's. Kaien, Mikh'a, and obviously Lakshai are my own.
> 
> Warning: Does have sensitive subject for some people even as slight as it is.

Hidden in the back of Tailfeather close to the Chocobo Forest that wrapped around the small village was a training area. Beside the training area, a small hut was placed. It currently housed two Doman refugees and their injured ward. The male refugee, the oldest, was currently out hunting for dinner with some of the Tailfeather folk for that night. The youngest of the two, the female, was tending to hers and the other Chocobos at the village stable. This left the injured ward alone, something that wasn’t healthy for the man at the moment. It gave him too much time to dwell on things that had happened and things that will happen in the future. The man was currently leaning against a far wall of the hut, atop his cot that was hidden away from the windows basking him in the shadows. 

There he stewed, his thoughts becoming rampant and overwhelming only minutes after the refugees left. Like many times before, his mind drifted back to that day, the day of the bloody banquet. He closed his now hetero eyes, leaning back against the wood, and letting himself get caught in the rushing current of his own mind. He lost everything that day; his job, his friends, Erozera’s favor, his home, his eye, his aether tolerance….but worst of all, he lost his sister. He would burn for all eternity for the mistakes he had made up to the events of the bloody banquet. He let himself believe they were safe, that with the blessing and with Eorzea’s favor, no one would dare touch him or Lakshai. Though he kept Lakshai away from the spotlight, it didn’t keep her entirely in safety. 

Anyone that wanted him knew, that if they could get ahold of her, then he would be in their grasp. That’s what he let happen, allowing her to come with him to the banquet, and allowing those guards to get ahold of her, was his undoing. Leaving her side was the worst choice he had ever made in his life, and one he would never forgive himself for or let anyone tell him otherwise. He let the fact that he, not alone of course, killed primals and won against Garlemald for the time being cloud his senses. It made him less watchful, less on edge, and worst of all, more trustful of strangers that he thought were safe since they had connections to the scions or alliance leaders. He let out a low chuckle filled with self-loathing, re-opening his eyes he looked down at his white-knuckled grip on himself. 

How he wanted to hurt himself, how he wanted to make himself suffer physically to compare with his mental suffering, but he knew if he had wounds on himself the refugee female, Mizuki, as she was named, would kill him after healing him. He was sure her elder brother, Kaien, would let her kill him seeing as the man seemed to want to strangle him whenever he got the chance. Those two saved him when he came out of the lifestream, found him naked as the day he was born near the Anyx Trine. He was trying to fend off a dragon that thought he looked rather tasty, something that before his life ended, he would have found funny after a few rounds of drinks. After saving him, they dragged his sorry ass to their hut in Tailfeather since then he'd been with them much to his chagrin. It had been a total of a few months, he thinks, and within those months, he'd struggled to relearn how to fight. He found out relatively early that he couldn’t fight like he once did, he wasn’t able to wield his axe with ease. 

Now blind in one eye, his balance was beyond off and with it being his right side, now he found himself becoming paranoid easily with anything he couldn't see from that side. This all combined to make him an utter disaster even in a practice battle. The aether resistance, he would call it, was a whole other issue. He had small aether reserves in the first place, and he only ever needed to use some of it for defending as a Warrior. Now though, he noticed, whenever he was being healed by Mizuki, he experienced a bout of sickness. Every little bit of healing caused him issues, but it wasn’t something he could go without or he would. He didn’t have too much trouble when using his own aether, so he could only assume it was outside sources of aether that cause this issue, which meant even using aetherytes was a no go. 

He was utterly pathetic; he let out a harsh self-deprecating chuckle at that thought. Stealing a look at his worn-out axe that leaned against the wall furthest from him, he grimaced at it. It reminded him of his glory days, when he was whole. Now he was merely a broken shell of his former self. He dug his fingers into his arms, wishing to feel something other than all this hatred for himself, and he was successful. His nails cut through his skin and he felt more than saw the welts forming and the blood pooling from underneath his nails. He let out a sigh at the feeling, something he became intimately familiar with since his job as the warrior of light. No his previous job, he couldn't call himself that anymore. This broken man, this useless in a fight blind man could not be looked upon as the famous warrior of light like before. 

He failed Leih’to, a man he knew to be his soulmate, but he ignored it in favor of his duty to his family and later Eorzea. Then there were the friends, if he could call them that now, that he had made on his and Lakshai’s journey; Mikh’a, Ladonia, and Ipeone, he failed them all. But worst of all, despite losing his soulmate for good, his friends, and Eorzea’s favor. He couldn’t bear without it, he couldn’t be….He couldn’t be Lakshai’s protector….That thought broke him. He felt the tears well up in his eyes and before he could will them away, they ran down his scarred cheeks and down into his unruly beard. He choked back a sob but he could only hold back one before they tumbled from of his mouth. Broken sobs and babbles of mashed-up words left him as he hunched over clenching his long, messy hair painfully in his fingers. 

His pitch-black ears that were pinned down were scratched in the process from his nails, causing them to throb in pain. His body shook from the force of the crying and he bit down on his lip to keep himself from screaming in agony. He tasted copper as it filled his mouth from the giant hole he tore in his bottom lip, the blood seeping out of his mouth and down his chin. His heather purple-tipped tail thumped against the bed, fluffed out to full size from the pain coursing through his body. He had no care to give as he just let himself crash until his voice became hoarse and his throat raw. He cursed the gods, cursed Hydaelyn, he demanded things, he begged for things, and in the end, he bargained his own life, his body, anything he could give away for one last chance to make things right. So that everyone he cared for; his mother, his friends, his fellow scions, Lakshai...could be safe and happy. 

Selfishly, though in his heart, he bargained to have his sight back, to be able to fight again, and be the warrior of light that everyone knew him as. To once again have the fame, the glory, and the power that came with the title. In the end, nothing happened, no gods answered him, Hydaelyn ignored him, and he was left trembling and weak. He fell over in a heap on the cot, he didn’t have the strength to keep himself up anymore. His cheek pressed against the rough blankets staining them with blood, far from being comfortable though he didn’t move to a more comfortable position. He deserved it, after all, and he was too worn out to care. His body relaxed and the comfort of full darkness soon took him as his one seeing eye closed alongside its former look-alike. 

It would not be a peaceful sleep, he laminated in his mind, he knew it wouldn’t. Those nightmares would come back and fill his head. Have him screaming and growling at them in defiance, waking up whoever was unfortunate to hear him. Maybe those visions would come back and haunt him as they did in the lifestream? Make him see those around him perishing from a haunting voice? So many things to fuck him over in his sleep, he let out one more sob filled chuckle before finally passing out.


End file.
